And what a soggy day it is around these parts but I hope you all had a lovely relaxing and fun smoke=free weekend! for those who may have had a wobble - well done for getting through it

Congratulations again to the lovely Jilly on achieving the 2 YEARS stop smoking target as well as a very special birthday If you haven’t had chance to read Jilly’s post from Saturday, please do so – if nothing else it would put you off taking even one puff of a cigarette, so again , thank you for posting it Jilly, you are one very brave and very inspiring lady.

I’ve had a pretty busy social weekend myself also celebrating special birthdays and I have to admit to niggles as the time approached to attend them, but I am so happy to say that I did not “suffer” at all as I faced these first big challenges as a non smoker. I am very proud of this, but I’m also a little afraid of becoming complacent so I must keep focussed as the journey continues!

A Warm and friendly welcome to several new members who joined over the weekend, it is lovely to meet you and you know where to come for any support and advice as you travel the stop smoking journey.

Right well it’s off to work for me and I wish you all an amazing day and hopefully we’ll catch up later

Thanks Chrissie, I will be saying NOPE all day to remind me. I think I'll need a lot of reminders today as feeling a bit low with this sore mouth. I know the same thing happened to hubby when he gave them up years ago and he actually went back on them because of his mouth and I really really don't want to do that. So if I'm rambling on a bit here, that's why!

Hi Briarwood - I know exactly how you feel and it really is not nice! It's actually getting me down and as you know I don't like to get down!

Soooooooooooooooo, we'll just have to suffer this horrible experience together I think

Apparently this is a good thing, because the tissues (lining) of our mouths are recovering from the effects of smoking for so many years. Like every phase before this we just have to get through it and when we do we will feel SO happy!!!

So let's go for a walk in the woods and see the bluebells and the little stream and listen to the birds singing and just take our mind of it for a while

Just back from taking my fab 87yr old mum in law for an E.C.G.(she used to be a Master Baker in Germany and still makes the most amazing chocolate cake in the world) Off to do some beading coz it's cold and wet here too.I'm glad everyone had a great weekend, well done Chrissie on not giving in to temptation at your parties, that's fab.Take Care all H x

Ditto well done Chrissie, sounds like you have had a blast this weekend, hello to all our newbies and well done for stopping smoking, it's not easy but it's so worth it in the long run to everyone else hope you all had a fab weekend too, I am off work this afternoon been for a lung capacity test and a treadmill test and all,is well can now up the exercise, whoopee now will be even more shattered starting tonight at 5:30 but needs must to make sure the heart continues to get stronger, feeling good x x

the office move is well underway here now - I have a huge pile of papers etc to sort out and just feel like I'm going to disappear under this mound!

I had a busy weekend which included a the Christening of my niece on Sunday. My plan of hanging around with you all on Daily Chat on Saturday night went in the bin because I seem to have misplaced my ipad charger and my stepson still has our laptop. This meant that any badges awarded have been done from my phone which is an absolute nightmare with the scrolling up and down thingy-ma-jig!

Chrissie, thanks for opening up shop, you are a whizz at it and it gives our JillyGirl a breather

Helen, I hope your mum's ECG showed that she was younger in her years I wonder does she know of Herman, the German friendship cake? I love having a Herman around the house but end up with lots about

Kaprin, I'm still carrying on with my 52 week challenge - I'm up to week 14 now Great to hear that your lung capacity is on the up

Briarwood, if you have to ramble, then this is the place to do it. NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! All the way How about a little salt rinse for you mouth? Persevere with it and you'll soon be on the mend You are doing so well.

JillyGirl, we've had both sunshine and rain here today. When I say rain, I mean proper tiddling it down rain!

ha, I have moved that much paper already and am honestly not kidding, though it was a little bit more organised than that.

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

I too am surrounded by papers and old tat dating back to the last century (1990's). I am sorting my office, tho it will take quite a few more weeks I would think. Bleugh, watch the paper bugs don't bite and watch out for spiders.

Aup Chriisie PIPP ha ha ha just looooooove my new name you daft so and so

Yep, its 5 weeks today for me hmmmmmmm, I see I will have to keep an eye on you, cos you will soon be catching me up eh and yes am proud of myself, and am very proud of you too for getting past that tricky 2 week mark

Hey you got any more parties to got to, cos just wondered if you needed a chaperone

Well she was on earlier but I haven't seen her myself this evening! Maybe she'll pop along in a bit? xxx

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

BOO am here. I found my way out of my office. Haha, had enough of sorting through the antiques road show so ave been watching corrie then started watching that drama thing on ITV but as per usual its bloody depressing so am not watching it now. How are you? Huh that pond of ours is turning into a right saga, there is now a trench running from the pond down the garden to try and drain the water from the piggin spring that runs underneath it. Am thinking of making some model narrow boats to sail in the trench cos it looks a bit like a miniature canal and it could be quite a garden feature don't you think?

I'm so upset because a friend of mine works at the dental hospital, and when I was suffering from sensitive teeth once she got me a mouthwash which was more like a syrup, and I just can't remember the name of it but it felt lovely.

I've moved offices since then so I don't see her anymore so I can't ask her!

Apparently only 1 in 30 ex smokers suffer from this - such joy!

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

try Colgate Duraphat Fluoride toothpaste but it ain't cheap. Apparently it was that Duraphat paste solution that the dentist painted on my teeth. I did try the toothpaste but it wasn't as good as the coating the dentist put on.

haha, no. We only have two fish, believe it or not because about 3 years ago some Heron came along and swiped the lot. We thought they'd all gone and never looked in there for ages. Then one day hubby spotted a fish hiding down the bottom of the pond and it was huge, like a whale. The other fish was one that we had in a tank in the house but got fed up of cleaning the tank so put it in the pond. That grew quite big too. Now the giant fish in back in a tank in the house cos it got poorly but seems to be recovering and the other is outside in an old cold water header tank that used to be in the loft.

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

If my memory serves me correct I think it might be American that article but I might be wrong. I had sore mouth for ages. The Dentist started it off in about October 2012 and by December I decided that maybe he might be right about smoking and that was when I decided to stop smoking. Was a nightmare, plus that December I fell off my bike too cos of some stupid kid messing about in the road and bruised my rib and got a big hole in by elbow then on top of all that got a stinking cold. So I couldn't lie down in bed for my bruised rib, my stuffed up nose and at the same time I had constant burning in my mouth and my teeth and was down to 2 cigs a day. I remember standing in the dentists reception (a different dentist I might add) the day after Boxing Day crying and telling the receptionist I couldn't take any more pain from my teeth and mouth. Haha, obviously she didn't know about all my other trials and tribulations, bet she thought God woman there's no need to cry. She did get me an appointment with the private dentist tho and he just stuck some stuff on my teeth and magic they were better.

Ha ha ha ha yeeeeeees I remember it well gosh it all happened in a very short time didn't it ooooooo I'm soooo sorry for laughing Sinfree, I really am, onest

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

haha I laugh now but I've never been so miserable in my whole life. Trying to move in bed was awful. I couldn't lean on my elbow cos of the hole, I had to think very seriously about making any attempt to lie down cos of my rib, then when my rib started to get slightly better I couldn't lie down cos my nose was all stuffy. I think I had about 2 hours sleep a night for a couple of weeks.

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

Aww, so sad about Peaches Geldof. She was younger than both my children. Such a waste of life, she had so much to live for.

Sorry, I got busy in the kitchen even though I didn't mean to, i just got carried away!

So how are you today?

And what have I missed? I must catch up xx

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

haha, hello, Pete and me were wondering where you'd gone. Thought maybe I'd frightened you away with talk of mad dentists. I'm fine thanks. Still trying to stick to using my e-cig every hour but struggled a bit today. Think have cheated a couple of times. How are you doing apart from your sore teeth.

Hi there - nearly missed this one! I actually feel pretty good today apart from my mouth. Being at work does make it easier for me mainly because I so busy thinking about my work which is the best distraction ever!

Okay the weirdest feeling I've been having is "what happens next" and I don't mean about cravings - it's just stopping smoking has been such a massive thing for me - but it's like coming to a plateau and I'm wondering what happens next. I still can't imagine a life where smoking isn't a part of it - does that sound daft? xx

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

Oooh I can't answer that one as I'm still struggling along. I rarely think about actually smoking cigs but fighting with nicotine cravings is still a daily thing for me. It's like where it doesn't bother you when you're busy at work, I would get through loads of lozenges if I was still at work if I was really busy and I wouldn't be able to use the e-cig.

Well I did buy some as an emergency if I had cravings when I was at work, or even just sitting on the bus, but I haven't actually used them yet. I am using the e-cig and to be honest it has been amazing because of that.

I've been reading your post re only using the e-cig once an hour - I've been wondering about something based on my use of the e-cig. Do you think it's the nicotine which is the thing, or could it be that the e-cig itself has become a habit? In much the same way as cigarettes were? I know I used to smoke more than I actually needed just because they were there, and I do think I'm doing the same thing with the e-cig just because it's there, especially at the weekends. It's like it's become a comforter to me. I would still rather use an e-cig than smoke a cigarette though so it doesn't really bother me

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

No, it's not habit. It's definitely nicotine. Even though we all smoked its difficult to put into words what an actual craving is. It's not a thought of oooh I quite fancy a cig, or lozenge or anything its a growing unease, a nagging in the back of your mind that gradually works its way to your conscious thoughts, a kind of nagging, I can always feel it physically in my mouth and the longer you ignore it the more persistent it gets, then you get irritable and edgy and it can only be relieved by nicotine in whatever form. I used to be able to go quite a while without a cigarette, certainly a lot longer than the e-cig. I just can't work out whether its because the e-cig just doesn't deliver nicotine quite the same as smoking or whether I've gradually built up more of a requirement for nicotine because of the constant drip feeding with lozenges and an e-cig.

Rite am sorry Chrissie PIPP, Sinfree, but, its time for me to climb that flippin wooden hill again soooooooo, I will say nite nite to you both and I hope you have a lovely sweet dream and a good nights sleep

Love and huggs, Pete xx

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

Night Pete, sleep well and have a good day at work tomorrow, supposed to be a bit drier tomorrow.

sin I really lovely the idea of boats in your garden! Now I think that sounds really cool! So did you get loads of rain today and did the original pond fill up again? I keep telling you to get the fire brigade in, and to let me know when you do

And I have to admit the news about Peaches Geldof really upset me this evening - such a tragedy!

So anyway, we partied again today, just a little shindig for the boss' 50th birthday in the office and we took in some nibbles and got some balloons and one lady made an amazing cake - it was fun!

So what have you been up to today? And that question applies to Mr Monky too! xx

3 years agoHidden2 YEAR WINNER

Aww that's nice. Sounds like you have a nice boss, they're few and far between these days. I've been tidying out my office still but am starting to make quite an impression on it now, still a way to go though. I've also been trying to stick to using my e-cig just every hour again today. Today was a bit harder than yesterday, it just shows how much I used it once I stopped the lozenges as I'm finding it quite hard to last the hour. How about you how are you doing other than your sore mouth.